Limited Time Only
by Dai Otenba
Summary: ‘Call it whatever you deem it worthy of a moment of insanity, a sign of affection, or just an excuse to shut him up for awhile.’ Kaiba buys Jounouchi something special. [KaiJou], [hints of YamiYugi]


Title: Limited Time Only

Author: Dai Otenba

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, as it belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. I would however like to own a Red Eyes plushie, but alas, I have no idea how the hell I can make one or get one. . 

Warnings: Fluff, Yaoi, light cursing, bit of OOC-ness

Pairings: Kaiba x Jounouchi, hints of Yami x Yugi

Rating: PG-13

Summary: 'Call it whatever you deem it worthy of; a moment of insanity, a sign of affection, or just an excuse to shut him up for awhile.' Kaiba buys Jounouchi something special. KaiJou, hints of YamiYugi

" " - Dialogue

' ' - Thoughts

_Italics_ - Flashback

---

Limited Time Only

---

I find it odd; the things people do for others in spite of what they themselves want. Whether it is from pity, admiration, kindness, or adoration, they do anything to make their wish come true. I suppose it sounds silly, but as long as I get to see that smile of thankfulness and appreciation, then it's worth all the troubles in the world. Then again, one never said I had to enjoy the process.

Call it whatever you deem it worthy of; a moment of insanity, a sign of affection, or just an excuse to shut him up for awhile. I'm just surprised that I went through with it in the first place.

I swear he is going to be the death of me one of these days. Well, him or my long, drawn out and tedious hours in the office. For now, he's just become another reason for me to live. Another source of joy and stress, irritation and relaxation.

No one said love had to make any damn sense.

-::-::-::-

It shouldn't have felt different than any other day. It was the same as usual in the beginning up till about the end. I was in the living room catching up on some reading. I had been browsing around the library and found just one of many books lying around out of place and had noticed that I had yet to finish it. I know there were plenty of times where I'd just pull out a book from there and finish it in no more than a week or two. Now, with a certain someone around, I'm lucky enough to finish an entire chapter in a day without him pinning and whining for my attention. Not that I have a problem with it, it's just that sometimes it gets… annoying, if you know what I mean. I deal with it either way, and since the day he moved in I have had quite a list of books from my library that I haven't even gotten halfway through.

Anyways, where was I? Ah yes, today. Well, at the moment it was more like tonight. It was way past midnight. I had stayed in a bit late at the office and had only come in about half an hour ago. Due to some reason unknown to me at the moment, my body refused to head upstairs to my bedroom and go to sleep. I decided to just head towards the living room, which leads us to our current situation. I didn't really notice any movement around me; too concentrated on getting a couple more pages done, when I heard someone heading down the stairs. I called out their name, only knowing one person who could be up at this late of an hour. For one, it wasn't Katsuya. He was probably fast asleep by now. All the maids and servants had gone for the night also, so only one choice remained.

"Mokuba."

…Silence. He was just holding back the inevitable. Stubborn kid. Can't blame him though.

"…Seto?"

I withheld the laughter threatening to slip out at the sound of his response, almost surprised and nervous. The same kind of response you'd get from a child who has been caught with their hand in the cookie jar and they're just staring at you with this 'It's really not what you think' look.

"Mokuba, come here."

I hear a few muffled footsteps as he slowly approaches me, coming to a stop near the couch I am sitting in. I keep looking down at the book though, since I already knew what he was doing at the moment. He was trying to be 'cute' with me. I had been in this kind of situation many times before, both with Mokuba and Katsuya, and each time I was amazed at how just one little look could wrap me around their finger and pull me in for the takedown. I had learned from then on to not look them directly in the eye when in a confrontation such as this.

At that short moment, for some strange reason, I wondered if this was how Yami had to deal with Yugi every single day. I almost pitied him. Almost.

After quite a while, I decided to just face him and get this whole ordeal over with. I was beginning to get tired as the many trials of today were starting to take a toll on my body.

"Mokuba," I said, looking up at him and closing the book in my hands, resting it on my lap. "what exactly are you doing up? I thought you'd be asleep by now."

"Well, I was but… then I woke up and you weren't here, so I decided to wait for you."

I quirked an eyebrow at his response. "Really? Just waiting for me? That's it?"

"Yes." His response was too quick, and it drew suspicion. He really needs practice on hiding things.

"Well I'm home, so you no longer have to wait. Now head on back to bed."

"But Seto-"

"No buts Mokuba. I want you to go back to bed right this second. You can play your video games tomorrow if you want."

I had to hold back an amused smile with his surprised facial expression. I wasn't stupid, I knew perfectly well what he was doing upstairs while waiting for me. After all, we were brothers.

"But-"

"I don't want another word out of you Mokuba. Now go to bed."

"Pleeeease big brother? Just a few more minutes, then I'll go, I promise!"

I sighed silently. There's always this glint in his eyes whenever he wants something from me. I'd be more than happy to comply, but then again, one doesn't want to become soft in front of others now do they? Especially when I had grown into the role of the 'stern and relenting' big brother. I loved the kid, really, but at times like these I really wanted nothing more than to either let him stay up all night like the insomniac he was growing up to be or get rid of every electronic gadget in his room and tie him to the bed in order to get him to sleep.

Both were something I'd never do of course. I cared for him too much to ever do something like that. Plus he wouldn't be too happy in the end. An unhappy Mokuba is an unrelenting and unpredictable Mokuba. It's not something you'd want to live with for a prolonged period of time.

"No Mokuba. It's already after midnight, I told you." I looked away to set the book on my lap down on the table in front of me. I slipped off my reading glasses and set them on top. "How about this; If you go to bed now, I'll let you stay up at least an hour longer tomorrow since you have no school the next day. Is it a deal?"

He gazed at me with hard and pensive eyes. In the end, he gave up and answered me with a sigh and a warm smile. "Okay Seto. But you gotta remember okay?"

I returned the smile and sat up from my spot on the couch. "Don't worry; I'm sure that won't be a problem for me. Now let's get you to your room." I ruffled his hair a bit then walked upstairs towards his room, him a couple of steps behind me.

-::-::-::-

After I had tucked him into bed and finished our goodnights, I headed towards my room feeling more tired and worn out than I had been when I first arrived back home not about a half an hour ago.

I finally reached my room, much to my relief, and opened the door as quietly as I could, knowing that Katsuya was probably fast asleep at the moment, and I didn't wish to wake him.

Then again, that would have ended up being a very difficult thing to do, for when I walked in, he was sitting up in the bed, the small lamp on the dresser next to the bed turned on, the small television we kept in the room turned on as well, and him wide awake.

I looked at him incredulously, as if silently asking him what in the world he was doing up and not snoring his ass off like he usually does at a time like this. I was a bit peeved also, since I remembered telling him that he shouldn't stay up and wait for me at such hours. If I wasn't home by 10pm, he should just go to bed. I myself had gotten used to only getting so much sleep because of my work, and I didn't want the same thing for him.

He looked away from the screen to look at me, and gave a soft yet worn out smile. At that moment, any and all anger I had accumulated had disappeared. Damn him and that comforting air he carries about him. Even a simple smile could turn my stomach to mush, and at the moment that's exactly what it was doing.

"Hey." He replied to me after quickly turning off the television.

"Why are you awake?" Yeah, nice way to greet him after being gone almost all day.

His look hadn't wavered at my reply though, which I was grateful for.

He looked down at the blankets wrapped around him, fingers toying with the ends a bit. "Well," he began in a small, slightly hesitant voice "I know you told me not to wait up on you when you're out this late, but I guess I couldn't help it this time. I couldn't fall asleep for some reason." He stopped his actions and looked up at me with nervous amber eyes. "Are you… mad?"

That look just did it in for me. He was on the brink of pouting, I swear. His eyes still held that worried look in them and had a slight shine and gleam to them, like he was going to break out sobbing at any moment. Not only that, but his bottom lip was slightly curled up, and… he was blushing. It wasn't full out, but you could see tiny hints of it. He looks so... vulnerable.

...Damn it. No. No no no. Must resist urge to molest. And to think, in the past he would get furious at me for calling him a puppy, and here he is giving me those puppy dog eyes at full power. He's pulling out all the stops.

I probably would have ended up leaping on him and ravaging him up to the extent where he wouldn't be able to walk properly for a week, until I remembered just what it was he had asked me.

I walked over slowly to the bed, and then sat down right next to him, yet making sure I didn't disturb the blankets set around him. I looked at him, but noticed that during my long-held mental discussion, he had lowered his gaze towards the blankets again, twisting the ends around in his fingers as well. I decided that just staring at him wasn't going to make him any less nervous, so I directed my gaze to the lamp next to us.

"No Katsuya, I'm not mad at you. I am slightly annoyed that you disregarded my words, but I can't help what happens. It's not your fault so don't worry about it. I just don't want you losing sleep over me." I looked over to him, and gave him a small smile, showing just how much I meant the words.

He looked up at me, and then smiled back. "Okay. I'm still sorry though."

"Don't worry about." I got up from the bed and walked over to the closet to get ready for bed. "So, what did you do today?" I asked as I began rummaging around for something to wear. I could sense a bit of tension around us after our current conversation, and decided to ease it a bit.

"Um… I went to the Game Shop today and hung around with Yugi, Yami, Anzu, and Honda for a bit. Honda had to leave soon after though, and Anzu had to get to work, so I was with Yugi and Yami for the rest of the time. I helped them around a bit with some of the new shipments they got today, and then we just talked after that." It was then that he paused a bit, yet before I was about to ask him to keep going, he continued talking. "The funniest thing happened though."

I peeked out of the closet, buttoning up my night shirt. "What?"

"It was real sweet. Yami hadn't been around for a while, and we were all wondering what was up with him. Turns out he was out trying to get something for Yugi."

"What, and what for?" I asked after I had finished changing and headed over towards the bathroom, though I left the door open just so that I could still hear the rest of the story."

"He got Yugi flowers. Just a spur of the moment type thing. It wasn't anything extravagant like a bouquet or anything, but it was nice either way."

I huffed lightly, or as much as I could with the toothbrush in my mouth. Take it to Yami to turn into the adoring and giving boyfriend role and try to go with the 'simple and small yet heartfelt' type gift. He always goes with simple things, especially when it comes to Yugi. I bet he's hoping it'll earn him points for certain activities in the future. I think you all know what I mean.

"Seems like a waste of money to me. Not to mention there really wasn't any reason for it." I replied back to Jou as I exited the bathroom and headed towards the bed.

"Seto!"

"What?" I answered as I paused right at the foot of the bed, looking at him questioningly.

He looked back at me with an annoyed look, as if I had insulted him or something. "It's not a matter of money or events. He just wanted to do something nice for Yugi. You know, like when someone gives another person they like candies or a card. It's just a simple way of showing them they care. Besides, it's the little things that count."

"Right, the little things." I mumbled as I moved the covers away and climbed into bed. I lay there with my arms under my head looking up at the ceiling. It was then that the oddest thing happened.

"Why don't you do something like that for me?"

"So what? You want flowers too? Go get some from the garden, or go buy some yourself." I replied with a quirked eyebrow. I'm guessing it wasn't the best thing to say, because all it earned me was a pillow in the face and a loud groan.

"You're hopeless you know that?" He said before turning away from me and curling up a bit.

"I mean, why don't you do something nice like that for me?"

I blinked my eyes a bit and waited to see if I had just been hearing things, but when I turned over to look at the blond next to me he was staring back eagerly, waiting for a response.

"You... do remember who you're talking to, right?"

After taking the time to look at me a bit, I received a look of indignation, which coming from the puppy, looked more like a forced miffed look. "Yes, I know just exactly who i'm talking to."

After pausing a bit more to see if it would take the blond a bit longer to let my small hints sink in, only to see that there was probably a giant mental wall separating it from what little common sense he has, I realized I was going to have to fill him in the hard way.

"You do know how horribly out-of-character that would be for someone like me, right?"

"...So?"

Okay, this was definately going to take a while.

What the hell is he thinking first of all? This is just another mushy thing happy couples do, and Katsuya knows that I am not one for such nonsense. It's enough for me to tell him 'I love you' anytime he wants to hear it. Now he wants me to buy him something to represent that feeling? Give me a break.

I looked over at Jou, noticing he had his back to me once again. I sat up a bit and shifted my gaze to him. He was staring at a random corner of the room, and he still looked a bit upset.

Great, now i've got to deal with this before I get any sleep done. I gave a heavy sigh of fatigue and looked away a bit.

It... wouldn't really hurt to do something 'out-of-character' like that... would it? I mean... it was for him after all. It's not like i'm jeopardizing my image to society or anything just by doing this. Nobody other than his friends and our siblings know of us being together, along with a few people who work in the mansion. Then again, the last thing I want is him blabbing to someone who does know about this little surprising event. I'd never hear the end of it from anyone. I sighed again and moved over next to him. I lay down right behind him so that we were spooned together, and I wrapped my arms around his waist. I could feel him tense up, then relax a bit. "Katsuya?" I murmured. All I got was a small noise from him, confirming that he was listening. "Why do you want me to do this?"

I could feel him give a deep sigh. "I don't want you to do it. I mean, you don't have to. I'm just asking when you could do something like that for me."

"Well, first of all, things like this usually aren't told. One does it out of spite, or at least that's how i've always seen it as. You can't just tell me to do something just because you saw someone else do it and you feel like you're missing out." I was automatically reminded of the time Mokuba wanted to try out soccer, seeing as how it had become quite the 'rage' in Japan. Needless to say, after letting him stay at a special camp for the sport, he had different views on the game once he came back, as well as a few... 'descriptive words' to use for the whole experience. He refused to see any combination of the colors black and white throughout that entire month as well. (1) "Second of all, Katsuya, you know i'm not one to be... lovey-dovey, like that." I felt him snicker a bit at my choice of words, which made me smile, if only a bit. "However, I can tell you that i'll think it over."

"'Kay." He answered. There was a bit more silence before I scooted us over to the middle of the bed, my arms still wrapped around him.

"Seto?"

"Hm." I murmured sleepily, brushing my nose along the blond locks of hair covering the nape of his neck, grinning at the small shiver that came from him due to the small action.

"I'm sorry if I pissed you off or anything."

I grinned a bit more. "No, it's okay. You didn't do anything of the sort. I was just surprised is all."

"Oh."

More silence.

"Seto?"

I groaned and nuzzled into the back of his neck showing him my displeasure of his consistent yapping. "What?"

"I'm sleepy."

I squeezed his waist a bit. "Then go to sleep already mutt."

He huffed and placed one of his hands on top of mine which were near his stomach. After a while longer I felt his breathing even out. I fell asleep not too long after him.

-::-::-::-

About a month after me and the mutt had our little late-night discussion, I had found myself walking through one of the quieter sections of Domino. Mostly because this was where a lot of personally owned stores of various kinds were located. There were coffee shops, Delis, costume shops, antique stores, basically anything and everything could be found here. There was a calming atmosphere to it, as there were many trees and rose bushes surrounding the area, as well as a miniature water fountain located nearby. It wasn't the kind of place a large group of people would go to on a regular day though, all the loud chattering didn't seem to fit around here by the looks of it. It was a place where you'd bring one or two friends along for a bite to eat, talk and browse through one of the many shops for something eye-catching. Speaking of eye-catching, as I was walking past what appeared to be a small toy store, I noticed what appeared to be a black stuffed animal of some sort in the window. As I backtracked a bit and took a closer look at the item, I noticed to my surprise that it was none other than a Red Eyes Black Dragon in some kind of chibi plush form. I had to hold back a small chuckle of amusement at the sight of such a silly, yet oddly cute thing. It must have been handmade personally by the owner of the store, since I never recalled giving any kind of orders for the production of Duel Monsters in stuffed animal form. Yet, as I thought about it more, I began to think that such a thing wouldn't be half bad to make.

As I was about to walk away from the store, the old talk I had with Jounouchi came back to mind, and I paused.

_"It's not a matter of money or events. He just wanted to do something nice for Yugi. You know, like when someone gives another person they like candies or a card. It's just a simple way of showing them they care. Besides, it's the little things that count."_

'Maybe this was that time?' I thought to myself as I stared at the little dragon plush in the window, ruby eyes staring back at me. 'It's the least I can do at least. To show him I care, that he actually means a lot to me. Plus he -does- like that Red Eyes card of his quite a bit. It's not a bunch of flowers or candy but... at least it's something.'

After deciding that doing something out-of-character for once in my life wouldn't kill me, I walked toward the front door of the store, opened it and entered.

-::-::-::-

Around an hour later, I found myself standing in my bedroom with the Red Eyes plush in my hands. It had taken longer than I thought to buy the damn thing, since it appeared the owner had become attached to the dragon and had only placed it in the window as a decoration, but after a bit of persuasion I managed to buy it and leave the store in one piece.

I stared down at the little dragon in my hands. So, here it is. I bought it. Now I just needed to give it to him. I gave a small sigh of fatigue. It was one thing to actually buy this thing, now I had to give it to the mutt in person?

'Or do I?' I thought as I looked to the bed at my right. Maybe... that's it! I could just put the plushie on the bed, then let Katsuya find it himself. Sure, he'll probably suspect that I got it for him and pester me about how much of a softie I actually can be on the inside, but he'd have no actual proof.

"This is too easy."

"What's too easy Seto?"

Where did -that- come from? I tensed up a bit, dreading the sight that would be behind me. 'Please please -please- tell me that was just Mokuba giving a flawless impersonation of Jounouchi.' I took a deep shuddered breath and spun around...

To the sight of a very confused blond, eyebrows scrunched up in puzzlement. 'I'm screwed.'

He took a step toward me, his mouth opening to question me further on my weird actions when he caught sight of the object in my hands. "Hey," he said, lifting a hand up and pointing at the stuffed animal, "is that... what I think it is?"

At this point, thousands of options of what to do swarmed through my head and I was amazed at the dozens of choices I had of what to do at the moment. I could fling the dragon onto the bed and tell him that it was a present from Mokuba, or one of those crazy fangirls that always seemed to hunt me down and hand me some ridiculous gift in hopes that i'd fall in love with them or something. Or I could tell him that I had bought it for Mokuba, tell him I was checking for flaws in it's design and that it was going to be a new product being created at Kaiba Corp. Of all these seemingly brilliant choices, I just had to select the runt of the litter.

"You." I held up the plushie with one hand and thrust it out in front of me, body tensing up horribly. Could I look anymore -pathetic-?

He blinked at me a few times, probably wondering what the hell was wrong with me, when he realized what I was hinting at. "Me?" He pointed at himself. "It's... for me?" At a slight jerk of my head indicating yes, a large smile spread over his lips, and I swore that I had never seen anything more dazzling in my entire life.

"Thank you!" He raced toward me and I was almost tackled to the floor with the ferocity of his hug. Once again, I wondered if Yami had been placed in this same situation when he gave Yugi those flowers, and I almost broke out laughing at the thought of him being tackled down to the floor by an ecstatic Yugi, since I knew that if he had been hugged like I had right now, he wouldn't have still been standing. I could feel my muscles relax though, and the arm in front of me had gone down back to it's place near my side. He released me soon after and grabbed the plushie out of my hand, examining and looking it over. "Wow! It looks so cool! Cute too!" He grinned and nuzzled it a bit. "Ooh, it's soft too!" He laughed a bit and hugged it tightly.

I simply stood there staring at him love the heck out of the Red Eyes, the laughter was sheer music to my ears and I had to hold back a little grin at seeing him get so excited over such a thing as a stuffed toy. I noticed, however, that there was a bit of a gleam at the corner of his eyes. They looked a lot like tears actually... "Jounouchi?" I asked softly. "Are you crying?"

His eyes widened for a fraction of a second, and he smiled up at me, the small tears streaking quickly down his soft and slightly flushed cheeks, arms wrapped around the plushie and hugging it to his stomach. "Guess I got a bit too out of hand there." He laughed softly.

I lifted my hands up and cupped his face, brushing away both trails of tears with my thumbs as he stared at me questioningly. "Why?"

He blinked a few times and smiled once again at me, then leaned up quickly and gave me a quick peck on the lips. "Because i'm happy." After that he raced back outside of the room, probably going to hunt down Mokuba and show him the plushie.

I stared at the doorway he had just raced out of, finally letting the smile that I had been holding back for so long to come out. "I can't believe I just did that." I chuckled softly to myself as I ran a hand through my hair and gave a sigh. I probably just ruined my tough, stone-like image to not only the blond, but now Mokuba as well. Then there was the fact that he'd let it all leak out to his friends.

_He blinked a few times and smiled once again at me, then leaned up quickly and gave me a quick peck on the lips. "Because i'm happy."_

But then again... I could care less.

---

(1) I got the idea for this from a Japanese soap opera-ish thing I saw on TV one very early morning. I can't recall the name of the show, i'm thinking 'Watashi no Aozori', but i'm not sure. I just remember what happened in the episode. There was this woman whose son I believe really wanted to play soccer, so he leaves one morning to play. I'm guessing his experience didn't go too well, as when he comes back he throws his soccer uniform in the trashcan and tells his mother that he doesn't like soccer anymore. Was cute, but also kinda sad.


End file.
